Every week as adventure. I share my adventures via images + notes, and you’re invited to join in. You can find all my adventures here, or follow along via email here.
Every week as adventure. I share my adventures via images + notes, and you're invited to join in. You can find all my adventures here, or follow along via email here.
Adventure Notes
This pie was delicious. I didn't have a pie crust made, so I left it crustless…and it was delightful.
I just started knitting Staccato, and several knitters have commented they want to join me. Let's have an impromptu knit-along! Just weet/Instagram with the hashtag #staccatoKAL to share your pictures + progress. You can see the yarns I'm using on Ravelry.
Every week is an adventure and I share the view, the path and the finds on Fridays, with an invitation for you to join me. You can find all my adventures here, or follow along via email here.
The Finds
The only thing I can focus on this week is praying for Boston. I wish I could do more, but what we can all do is donate to help the victims. Give here. If you’re looking for some distractions, here’s what I enjoyed reading this week:
I love this post about beauty and our cultural insistence (even in the Dove Real Women ads) that beauty is important to self worth.
Every week is an adventure and I share the view, the path and the finds on Fridays, with an invitation for you to join me. You can find all my adventures here, or follow along via email here.
The view
The Path
After a lifetime of avoiding working on my quarterly taxes until the very last possible moment (and then remembering it’s never as bad as I feared), I think I landed on a solution: Corporate Quarterly Retreats. There’s a whole game system in place (leveling up, dance breaks, lots of tea), and I plan to make the retreats even more retreat-y (this time, since I dreamed it up and DID it in the same day, it was just me, the pup, my pjs and lots of breaks). Lesson learned: Find What Works. Don’t stop experimenting and playing until you land on a way to do that task painlessless, and with joy.
Jay made these meatballs (subbing 1 Tbls of flax mixed with water for each egg) and they were AMAZING (pictured above). Easily the best meatballs ever. We *may* be eating them for every meal….
Speaking of life-changing deliciousness, I was asked to donate cookies to a fundraiser at Jay’s work. I send over half of all my baked goods off to work with Jay, so that I can maintain a semblance of self-control. These Chocolate Chocolate Chip cookies are a favorite and they’re great for bake sales because the recipe makes over 3 dozen. (And no one cares that they’re dairy-free and egg-free, ie, vegan!)
If you want to try dyeing with Easter Eggs (yarn or fiber, or even wool fabric!) NOW is the time to buy the dyes, while they’re crazy-on-sale. Years ago I made a video with instructions. This is a totally safe project to do with kids!
I spent most of my week working with map-makers who are plotting a fabulous Quarter 2. I am SO thrilled to see where they’re going. (You can make your own map here.)
I’m completely addicted to You Need a Budget. Read the lessons, get the (free) e-course and then try it! It’s really perfect for working with variable income (as we all do) and syncing up with someone else (we both have the apps on our phone and can add transactions on the fly). The stress level in my life has decreased a thousand-fold, just since using it on Tuesday. (I might talk about this more, later, because I have spent years working on my relationship with money.)
Diane just opened up her super-helpful course, Monetize Your Craft Blog. If you’ve got a blog, but don’t have a money-making plan (or if your plan isn’t working) this class WORKS (lots of my students and clients have raved to me about this class). *
*I’m not an affiliate for any of these projects, but I am friends with Heather and Diane. So, you know, I’m a bit biased…then again, our friendship was predicated on the fact that I already respected their work before we ever met.
Each month, I’ll suggest 2 or 3 books that you might like to read – one will be a biz-explorer pick (something to help you in you navigate your business) and one will be a general fun (or creativity) pick. I’ll provide links to Goodreads (so you can easily add it to your queue), IndieBound (buy from your local bookseller!) and Amazon Kindle (if available).*
Did it change the way you think about making decisions? Leave a comment to tell me. (That’s where I’ll be sharing how I’m using Six Thinking Hats in my business).
April’s Books
Contagious, by Jonah Berger. I haven’t read it yet, but it was suggested by Jessica of Storied Yarns and it just came in at my library. I look forward to reading it along with you!
The for-fun pick is Dinner: A Love Story, by Jenny Rosenstrach. More than a cookbook (since I don’t eat meat, there’s not a lot of recipes from it I’ll be trying!), it’s a lovely story of getting dinner on the table every day. I especially loved this bit, where she talks about how she and her husband end up “owning” recipes (Jay and I do EXACTLY this):
*A reminder: I got both of these books at my library – so try yours! If you buy from IndieBound or Amazon using the links below, I get a tiny percentage for soy lattes.
If you’re joining me in reading these books this month, say hello in the comments! If not, what are you reading?
Every week is an adventure and this is the view, the path and the finds that made this one special. You can find all my adventures here, or follow along via email here.
Checking out a local 5k course, through a beautiful neighborhood
I got a haircut!
The path
I’m gobsmacked by the reaction to my How to Read 100 Books in One Year post! I’m so glad to have met so many of you and gotten your recommendations! I am doubly happy that a random idea is turning into such a lovely book club! If you’re “in” the book club (to be “in” – just read the books!) you might like this TED talk by Ben Zander, author of Art of Possibility. (Thanks to the readers who pointed it out to me!)
The Starship opens to new members in 2 weeks. This week I got a pile of emails asking about it, so I wanted to let you know! If you’re even flirting with the idea of beaming aboard this quarter, do sign up to hear the stories of current captains. They share their best business lessons (useful whether you join or not) and you’ll get a good feel for what you can expect. Totally free, daringly honest, right here.
The finds
“It’s not easy to ask. Asking makes you vulnerable.”
If you don’t like to ask for the sale, or ask for money, watch this:
If you follow me on Instagram, then you know I am (oh-so-slowly) taking up running. I tried the Couch to 5K program (I used an app) and really loved it for the first 3 weeks…and then I just couldn’t seem to move forward with it. I don’t know if it’s the weather or the structure of the app…but I knew that if I’m going to run a 5K this spring (one of my 2013 goals!) I need a different kind of structure. And then I realized: The structure of the Starship has helped me and other explorers move forward on our goals…maybe I just need a version of this for my running? Something with specific lessons and check-in times and a community? And then I remembered, Alex Franzen had linked, long ago, to Up and Running! It’s exactly what I was looking for and it started this week and I LOVE IT. I think you’ve got a few more days to join, if you’d like to!
a pink-haired author, maker and Starship Captain. I write + teach adventurous business explorers to share their work and follow their enthusiasm.
I squeal over handknit shawls, hot pink shoes, and soy lattes.
